ESSEXVILLE, MI — Laykyn Owczarzak couldn’t picture a future for herself. That thought created the spark that changed her life.

The 20-year-old from Essexville used to weigh 320 pounds. She had low self-esteem, walked through her school hallways with her head down and tried to hide from bullying from both classmates and teachers.

Her comfort was food.

Then last summer, at age 19, Owczarzak thought about where she’d be. With her health and the health problems that ran in her family, she didn’t know if she’d be around.

With her sister’s urging, she went to Next Level Fitness, a CrossFit-style gym in Bay City. A coach asked Owzarzak what she wanted to accomplish.

“I want to lose 170 pounds in a year,” she responded. A specific goal wasn’t something she had given much thought, Owczarsak said, but her coach held her to it.

She started a rigorous exercise routine four days each week at Next Level Fitness, although at first she couldn't complete the whole workout. As the weeks passed, Owczarzak said she started to see results and learned the sense of accomplishment that came with the workouts.

Her Next Level Fitness teammates also introduced her to ViSalus shakes, a packaged meal replacement that is easy to make and come in flavors such as cake and apple pie. Having tried every diet, Owczarzak said, she was happy to find something as simple as a shake.

In Owczarzak's first 90 days, she lost 43 pounds, she said.

"It made me realize my goals are possible, I just have to put the work in," she said.

The community nature of ViSalus gave Owczarzak the structure, support and accountability she needed to lose the weight.

Owczarzak also inspired her family to become healthier, and the whole family started working out and adding shakes to their diets, she said. On Memorial Day weekend 2012, the family did a CrossFit workout together.

Laykyn Owczarzak before she lost 170 pounds in 11 months.Courtesy | Laykyn Owczarzak

Owczarzak said trainer, Mario Hernandez, gave her another challenge: Lose 60 pounds in 90 days or she'd have to cut 12 inches off her long, blonde hair.

After she lost 140 pounds, Hernandez — who weighs about 140 pounds — had her carry him for a half mile. She said completing the workout was the best feeling in the world.

" 'Why did I do that for so long?' " Owczarzak said she asked herself.

In that first year, she ran her first 5K race, the St. Patrick's Day race in Bay City. The last time she had run a mile, Owczarzak said, was in high school.

Ten months and 21 days after she started, Owczarzak stepped on the scale and reached her goal of losing 170 pounds. She lost more than half her former weight and hadn't been that size since she was in elementary school.

"It was a surreal feeling at that time," she said.

At the same time, she entered ViSalus's BodyVi Challenge, a competition which honors one of the ViSalus consumers' transformation. About 150,000 people from across the U.S. were entered in the 2012 competition, she said.

The male and female winners are determined through overall transformation, personal story and community vote.

Owczarzak was a semi-finalist after submitting her story and said she shared the story on Facebook and told everyone she knew to vote for her.

In August, the semi-finalists headed to American Airlines Arena in Miami for the reveal of the winner. When she was up on the stage, Owczarzak said, ViSalus leaders introduced the semi-finalists and then called her name.

"It's a lot of a blur," she said of that day. "It was so awesome."

The victory earned Owczarzak $800 ViSalus products, a $25,000 package to share ViSalus products and a trip to Santa Monica, California for a makeover.

But the best part of her health transformation were the everyday things.

Owczarzak could ride in an airplane without an extra seatbelt, ride all the roller coasters at Cedar Point and share clothes with her sisters.

"We have clothing fights," she said. "It's the little things that I enjoy now."

She's also come out of her shell and is more confident, Owczarzak said.

Keeping the weight off is still work for Owczarzak. She exercises daily and has goals set to keep her motivated.

Along with shakes, she follows the Paleo diet, or the caveman diet. The diet excludes grains, dairy and sugar, but she does allow herself treats every once in a while.

In 2013, she plans to run her first half marathon and her entire family plans to compete in an obstacle race.

Now Owczarzak wants to help give back to others. She's switched her major at Delta College to health fitness and wants to focus on working with children.

Teaching healthy habits to children will help them for the rest of their lives, she said.